1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hull structures for boats and is more particularly directed to a planing boat hull.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In boating terminology there are two basic hull structures: planing hulls and displacement hulls. A planing hull is one which rides on top of the water, making it fast and maneuverable. A displacement hull on the other hand has more of .[.it's.]. .Iadd.its .Iaddend.hull in the water thereby enhancing stability.
The present invention is concerned with planing boat hulls which have V-type constructions. These hulls have an arcuate contour extending on either side of the keel from the bow to the stern which effect good riding characteristics to the boat when planing, when moving in the direction of a head or following sea and at a speed for which the hull is designed. When a planing boat having a conventional V-hull is not planing or when moving along a quatering sea, .[.it's.]. .Iadd.its .Iaddend.lateral stability is very poor and high impacts of the hull are experienced as the speed of the planing hull is increased. Also, the bow of the boat tends to ride at an increasing angle thereby increasing the water impacts of the hull. Since the water flowing past the boat follows the shape of the hull, the spray created by the forwardly moving boat tends to spray in the direction of the occupants of the boat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,370 of the same inventor addresses the poor characteristics of the conventional V-type hulls for planing boats by providing a hull that is partially arcuate and partially flat whose stern is provided with an appropriate dead rise and chines extending about the outer edges of the hull of substantially equal but oppositely extending angle as the dead rise. This present invention is an improvement of U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,370 by including a step arrangement between forward and aftward hulls to lift the boat onto plane without the usual impacts. The aftward hull is designed to "surf" on a bow generated wave at higher speeds due in part to air induced under the hull, which relieves suction loading.
In addition to the inventor's patent cited above, the following U.S. Patents are of interest to the present invention:
U.S. Pat. Des. No. 234,685, issued to Cole PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,698, issued to Becker PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,075,488, issued to Wolfe et al PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,729, issued to Ewing PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,598, issued to Mortrude PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,455, issued to Bremer PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,143, issued to Krenzler PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,920, issued to Wood
The above list of patents are divided into two areas of interest concerning the present invention. The first group which includes the Cole, Becker and Ewing patents have step arrangements. Of these, Ewing is of particular interest because of a transom dividing the forward hull section and the aftward hull section. According to the Ewing disclosure the transom flattens out the sea and serves as a planing portion to elevate the forward section of the hull.
The hull design in the Becker patent includes a forward section that is V-shaped and an aftward section that is more of a plane shape. Separating the two sections is a transom or step, whose sole purpose is to define the forward and aftward sections.
The design patent to Cole shows a transom or step separating the forward and aftward sections. The transom is shown as a V-shape with the keel dividing the transom into two parts. A close look at the transom shows that it tapers into the keel at the boat center line.
The second group of patents includes Wolfe et al, Mortrude, Bremer, Krinzler and Wood et al, all of which are directed to flat areas for planing. The flat area in Bremer and Krinzler extend the length of the hull center line below the water, while in Wolfe et al, Mortrude and Wood the flat area extends, at most, from mid hull to the rear transom. The planing pad in Wood is concave to provide stability in high speed turns.